On Friday British No 1 Katie Boulter kicked off her China Open campaign with a convincing win over Taylor Townsend after Zhang Shuai stunned US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro in straight sets in the 2nd-round, and Jessica Pagula, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka as scored wins.
Boulter, who was playing her first match since making a disappointing 2nd-round exit from the US Open in August, beat Townsend, 6-4 6-4, to set up a contest with Coco Gauff, the 4th seed, who met France’s Clara Burel in her opener later in the day.
Failing to take 3 break points in the opening game of the match, Boulter immediately lost her own serve to fall behind against Townsend.
Overcoming her sluggish start, she finally capitalised on a 4th chance in the 7th game to get back on serve, and followed this up by breaking Townsend again before calmly closing out the set on her own delivery.
Boulter kept her foot on the gas throughout the second, keeping the pressure on Townsend’s serve, and was finally rewarded with a break in the 9th game, finally converting to take a 5-4 lead.
Demonstrating poise in the key moments, the 26th seed had no problem closing out, finishing the match with a powerful forehand winner to advance in an hour and 34 minutes.
Having received a 1st-round bye thanks to her seeding, Boulter ended the match taking just 3 of 12 break points. Coco Gauff saw off Clara Burel in her opener in Beijing under the watchful eye of new coach Matt Daly
Coco Gauff confirmed in Beijing that Matt Daly has become her new coach, after recently splitting with Brad Gilbert after a 14-month partnership during which she won the US Open in 2023, but she had suffered a notable dip in form this summer.
Daly has joined forces with J.C Farrell to help coach the 20-year-old for the rest of the season and into next year.
“I’m really excited,” said Gauff to the WTA . “I think this is probably what it will look like next year too. I’m super excited for a new change and hopefully to improve other parts of my game.
“Working with Brad was really great and, obviously, we had a great partnership. I think it was just time to do a reset, a refresh, and add some things in my game that I felt like I need to do to have a better season next year.”
The American prevailed in her opening match, holding off Burel, 7-5 6-3, to set up her meeting with Boulter.
In her first match since a 4th-round loss to Emma Navarro in her US Open title defence, Gauff recorded a 100-minute win over the World No 56, saving a set point at 5-4 in the first set before advancing.
Both made regular forays to the net, and it was Gauff who built an initial 4-2 lead, but Burel won the next 3 games and arrived at her set point at 5-4.
The Frenchwoman, though, misfired on her chance, sending a volley out at the end of a rally, and Gauff escaped danger with a break for 5-5.
At 6-5, Gauff needed 4 set points of her own before clinching the opening set, breaking serve with an error-forcing backhand.
In the second, the American moved ahead for good after Burel double-faulted down break point at 4-3.
Serving for the win at 5-3, Gauff evaded 2 break points, and she reached match point with an ace before closing out the win after Burel’s backhand found the net.
Racking up 17 break points in the match, Gauff converted 5, while she fired 20 winners to Burel’s 13, denying the Frenchwoman her second career Top 10 win.
Gauff and Boulter have split their 2 previous meetings, with Boulter winning in 3 sets at WTA 500 Melbourne in 2021, and Gauff taking a straight-sets win at WTA 1000 Montreal last year.
Wild-card Zhang Shuai won her second match in a row when she upset Emma Navarro, the 6th seed, at the WTA 1000 in Beijing
Just 2 days after ending her 24-match losing streak, Zhang won her second match in a row, breaking her 603-day drought without a singles win since January 2023.
The Chinese wild-card, ranked 595, did it in some style, upsetting Emma Navarro, the 6th seed from the USA, 6-4 6-2, to continue her fairytale run in front of of her home crowd.
“I think that this is the perfect timing. My first win at a WTA tournament was 15 years ago at China Open, and then the next day I beat the No.1 player]. Maybe God has a plan,” Zhang told WTA Insider.
The former World No 22 had managed to beat American McCartney Kessler, 7-6(5) 7-6(1), avoiding setting a new record for the most consecutive losses on the WTA Tour, before taking down 22-year old Navarro.
Zhang’s win comes on the 15-year anniversary of her first career Top 10 win, when she stunned top-ranked Dinara Safina from Russia in the 2nd-round of the China Open in 2009.
She now has 9 career Top 10 wins to her name, 8 on hard courts, 6 in Asia and 4 in China, the 4 in China coming in Beijing.
Seemingly, the 35-year-old routinely beat the American, but, in fact, the World No 8 failed to take her chances and didn’t convert, allowing Zhang to feed off the energy of the Chinese fans to secure her first Top 10 win since 2022 Tokyo.
Navarro earned an early break and opened a 2-0 lead, but, after making a very slow start, Zhang responded with back-to-back breaks, and won the next 4 games to overturn the deficit and go 4-2 up.
The American got herself back on track in the 8th game to level the opener at 4 games apiece, but blew her chance after dropping serve again in the following game, and Zhang made no mistake sealing the first set after converting her first set point on her own serve.
Down a set, this year’s US Open semi-finalist had a golden opportunity to open up an early lead in the second, but failed to grab any of her 3 consecutive break points in the 4th game.
After Zhang survived that, Navarro unravelled as the Chinese collected breaks in the 5th and 7th games on her way to capping off the match on a 5-game winning run.
“Nobody cared how many matches I lost because everybody said you play so well,” Zhang said. “When I came back, I played Daria Saville at Miami. After the match, she said you’re still at the top, even better than before when you were ranked in the Top 30. So keep playing, the win will come.
“I have a lot of motivational feelings from my friends because I feel everybody is my friend. I don’t feel they are my opponents. If you play good, I am happy for you. But you also show me how much I can improve. We inspire each other.
“That is the big family in the WTA Tour. I like it. That’s why I continue to keep playing,” she added.
The former No 22 is projected to rise from her current ranking of 595 back into the Top 450 when the new WTA rankings are released after the tournament.
Next up for Zhang is Greet Minnen, the World No 94 from Belgium, who battled past Russian Anastasia Potapova, the 28th seed, 7-5 2-6 6-4, to record the 10th Top 50 win of her career.
